Pizza Bob's 42" Build

[jmhepworth]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

You're work is so nice that I'm really hesitant to let anyone see pictures of mine. Nice job.

Joe

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Man, that's some nice brick work.

Kebwi,
Thanks! It takes me so long to cut and mortar a course in place but I'm usually happy with the end result. I'm quite certain I'm still gonna' get cracks. It seems so unavoidable...

Lars,
I am using the HeatStop 50. It's so nice to work with but expensive! I'm on my fourth 50lb bag and it's $50 a bag! It was in the low 30's here the other night - you are correct, that cold is a comin'!
I had a mason come out to quote a stone wall and steps for me this weekend. Of course I had to show him my pizza oven. He was impressed and his only comment was that he thought the mortar joints should be wider than the thin joints I have been busting my butt to get in there! He thinks as the oven heats up and cools down and expands and contracts the thicker mortar joints act as a "cushion" of sorts to allow the bricks to expand without cracking. I seem to think the HeatSop 50 sets-up harder than the bricks but I haven't done any testing to prove that.

Joe,
Your build looks great and you're cooking pizzas! I'm still buying pizza in New Haven! That's the most popular town for pizza in Connecticut. The pizza is good but expensive. We went out last night to a place called Bar - just Bar not The Bar. Their signature pizza is mashed potato and bacon - I'm not a fan of it but their other pizzas are great but pricey! A large mozzarella pizza with no toppings is $16.00. So if my oven ends up costing $3000 I would need to buy 187.5 of these pizzas to equal the cost of the oven. That's a lot of "dough'!


I cut the bricks for my next course. Now I need to find some time to mortar them in...

~Bob

[Lars]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hey Bob,
The pizza we make, basic hamburger, black olive, fresh tomato, onion, cheese... costs about $8. in groceries...

The mortar joints are SUPPOSED to be thin.

L.

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

I know it's not like putting in the dome keystone but getting past the last course that transitions to the arch is a HUGE milestone, for me anyways! The two #$%@!#&$# bricks from this course (the 6th course) that transitioned into the arch wasted my entire afternoon! And the end result is not perfect! I ended-up with a small "V"-pocket gap that I relunctantly filled with HeatStop 50. The other imperfection was a mismatch in the small brick that I cut to finish off this course. This left a small step on the inside of the dome that will never be noticed without these pictures. Also, the two #$%@!#&$# bricks that transitioned into the arch are slightly steeper angle than the rest of the course. The next course will need to lay a little flatter (less mortar) in this area. It seems like I stayed away from the dreaded tear-drop shape. If anything I might have to use 1/3 cut bricks for the next course in this area so I don't get a large gap where the two #$%@!#&$# bricks meet.
Oh, I also ended-up lining-up a mortar joint with one from the fifth course. I was moving so quickly on the "easy" bricks that I over-looked it.
Well I think I made it obvious as to how much of a pain in the *ss the two arch transition bricks were. I just hope they and the mortar stay in place...

[KINGRIUS]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

So, you are mortal and can cut a brick that isn't perfect. Well that makes me feel a little better about the 100's of imperfect cuts I ended up with before I closed my dome.

You can complain all you want, but your dome still looks perfect to me! And of course, I don't think you'll have critics sticking their heads in your oven trying to find imperfect brick cuts, they'll be too busy sticking delicious pizza in their (pizza)pie hole to care about the inside of the oven.

Keep up the good work, you're getting close!

Darius

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

You did great Bob. It's easy to be hard on yourself but your pictures don't lie. Your brickwork looks great. The little glob of mortar on the inside is fine and it helped keep your course round and avoid the teardrop. On my occasional (read: many) bricks that where higher than what they should be, I just took the angle grinder and VERY carefully took them down to match the bricks on either side. Like you said, you could also use less mortar and see it improve too.

[dbhansen]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Very nice transition, Bob! The rest of the dome is going to be a breeze.

[jmhepworth]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

I can't believe anyone would complain about that transition. Mine is so ugly that I refuse to post pictures of it. (Fortunately, it's well hidden now, so no one can ever see it.) I really doubt that it can be any better than you just did it.

Joe

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Thank you for all the compliments. I'm really not complaining - I was just "venting" because of how much time I wasted on putting thos two bricks in place. It really took me most of the afternoon!
Dino, I didn't think of grinding uneven edges - that would work great. I'll have to pick-up a cheap grinder - I think I have seen them for under $20.
Darius, I will invite anybody who wants to look in the oven just after the temps hit 900 degrees!
Joe, I almost didn't post pictures of this course. But I have been posting every course so why stop now. I wish I took pictures of the two bricks before mortaring them in. I basically used my hands as a fixture and the tile saw as a 5-axis grinder!
DB, I'm hoping it'll be a breeze too. I'm hoping I don't have to cut bricks into thirds if I keep tapering them. But that would probably make a lot of scrap/wasted bricks. Decisions...decisions....

~Bob

[plootsnot]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hey Bob,

Nice build! I could make you feel alot better if I posted a picture of the inside of my oven transition, but it would scare me to see it again. Don't sweat it when your oven is at temp and pizzas are rolling out into greedy hands you will be laughing.

Kurt

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Here is a link to my YouTube site which has a video I made of progress to date. I'll update it periodically as I make progress:

YouTube - Bob's Wood Fired Pizza Oven

~Bob

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Bob, your youtube video is awesome! I just love the music too. It's nice to see all your work to date in a couple of minutes. Nicely done. Is that Dean Martin singing That's Amore? Can't wait to show it friends.
thanks, Dino

[cecilB]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hi Bob, while I'm waiting for your video to download, I wanted to ask you about your arch dome brick cutting. Yours look so good - Yesterday we worked all day trying to cut them right and then one whole section was just not supported well enough, so it fell in. I cleaned up and went in for the day!
Is there a trick to getting your dome to arch bricks cut that perfectly?
It's one thing to see it in your mind - which is hard enough in my mind - but to put it up to a blade that only runs straight up and down - you have to know which position to place the brick - AAAAACK!

Any tips?
thanks,
cecelia

[Rodneyf]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Cecilia, I got around the transition bricks by using polystyrene foam cut from old Broccoli (vegetable) boxes cut to the same size as my bricks. It is easy to cut with a hacksaw blade and if you make a mistake it doesn't matter, it is then just a matter of transferring the cuts to real bricks.

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hi Bob, while I'm waiting for your video to download, I wanted to ask you about your arch dome brick cutting. Yours look so good - Yesterday we worked all day trying to cut them right and then one whole section was just not supported well enough, so it fell in. I cleaned up and went in for the day!
Is there a trick to getting your dome to arch bricks cut that perfectly?
It's one thing to see it in your mind - which is hard enough in my mind - but to put it up to a blade that only runs straight up and down - you have to know which position to place the brick - AAAAACK!

Any tips?
thanks,
cecelia

Hello Cecelia,
Thank you for thinking my arch dome bricks look so good. I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with this part of the build but perhaps I can help. I wish I took a video of the process because once I figured it out it really was so easy! It took a few years off my life and added some gray hairs for sure but I was pleased with the results. I know...I know...You want me to shut-up and explain the process...

My approach started off like Rodney's - I used cardboard to cut the shape in a flat pattern. The shape ALWAYS ended-up looking like the image below. The key was to mortar the course you're working on right up until there is only enough room for the transition brick. Then take your cardboard and place it on the upper most surface of that last brick in the course you're working on. Make sure it's the upper most face as shown in the picture below. Trace the pattern in the cardboard so that the v-groove intersects with the arch and the long side of the v-groove is flush with the arch bricks. Then take that cardboard pattern and transfer it to your brick with a Sharpie or marker that doesn't smear with water. Your first cut on the brick will be with the brick placed flat down on your tile saw table. Just a simple straight cut. You will have to flip the brick over to complete the cut and probably have to hit the portion you're removing with a rubber hammer or the palm of your fist to remove it but that shouldn't be a problem. The next part gets a little tricky as to how to hold the brick. If you look at the image below of the angled brick against the tile saw blade. The only way to do that is to hold it in your hands at the correct angle and keep your fingers away from the blade. I know...What is the "correct angle"? You will need to "creep up" to the final correct angle. Just make sure yo maintain the the original cardboard pattern by not cutting into it but rather cutting away from it (if that makes sense ). Both surfaces of this v-groove need to be angled back until it fits properly against your arch and dome bricks. Just take a cut and and match it up to where it will be mortared in. You'll see the angle will need to be cut probably 8 - 12 times before it fits perfectly.But as you cut these angles on both surfaces of the v-groove (when I say both surfaces - there is a long surface and a shorter surface that form this v-groove) make sure you do not change your initial cut that was transferred from the cardboard. The radius in the v-groove that you see in the image below was just "whittled" away by holding the brick in my hands and using the tile saw as a pedestal grinder and rotating the brick to get a nice transition of the two surfaces. Nobody will ever see this radius but a sharp corner there can introduce a stress riser or an area for a crack to form. As you progress on to the next course you will need to make the "longer" surface of the v-groove longer to overlap the course underneath it. This will allow you to continually close-in your circle at the arch transition. Just keep an eye out for the "tear-drop" shape ). This can be avoided by slightly overlapping each transition brick from course to course. Take a close look at pictures I posted earlier in my thread and you'll notice this overlap.

I hope this makes sense and it helps. I'm not sure if it's the easiest method of doing this and I'm sure I probably over thought an area that no one would have seen if I just kept my camera in the house...

Good luck on the rest of your build. My build is stalled at the 8th course.

p.s. - I will post another message with two more images.

Regards,
Bob